First Nations, French Canadians & Acadians

When most people think of Quebec’s ethnic make-up, they think first of French-speaking, Catholic Quebeckers – and theycertainly makes up the overwhelming majority of early settlers. However, Quebec also had settlers of British origin (English, Scottish and Irish), and among these there was a substantial group of Anglo-Normans from the Channel Islands. These Channel Islanders settled on the Quebec and New Brunswick coasts of the Baie des Chaleurs (Chaleurs Bay) and they were there to get something that the Europeans of the time desperately wanted – codfish!

One of these Channel Islanders was my ancestor – Philippe Luce of Jersey – and as I don’t have any photographs of him I’ve decided to share this vintage postcard of fishermen on the beach splitting codfish near the now famous tourist destination of Perce Rock.

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An M-line is a lineage built by beginning with a woman and tracing her line back mother-to-mother. As a result, the surname changes with each generation. This is a big trend right now, especially with the advent of genetic genealogy which allows both men (through their mothers) and women to trace their bloodlines through their mtDNA.

Marguerite Caplan’s mother was First Nations (possibly Mi’kmaq).This was known through genealogical records and is now supported through testing by numerous female descendants showing a marker for First Nations DNA.

This vintage postcard shows the ancient church of St-Brelade in Jersey, Channel Islands, which is said to date back over 1000 years to the time of the “wandering Celtic saints” (see Links). Several of Elie Luce and Elizabeth Sorsoleil‘s children were born in St-Brelade.

Does anyone know whether this was Elie Luce and Elizabeth Sorsoleil’s church?

If so please drop me a line in the comment box below.

On the left is an enlarged detail from the vintage postcard, showing the Fisherman’s Chapel or Chapelle des Pecheurs which dates back to the 11th/12th century – on the right, a photographic detail of one of its medieval Continue reading →

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Seaweed has been an important part of Jersey life for well over 800 years, so our own Luce ancestors would have been quite familiar with scenes of seaweed harvesting like the one below.

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Seaweed was a fertilizer for Jersey farming families until well into the early 1900s, since Jersey’s very sandy soil made fertilization crucial and the seaweed was readily available. Continue reading →